Scott Garrett's misreading of the U.S. Constitution

In the lobby of his Capitol Hill office, Congressman Scott Garrett has copies of the constitution for visitors to take and read. His interpretation of the constitution has drawn fire from analysts.

Rep. Scott Garrett says all of us have misread the U.S. Constitution, and stands ready to set his fellow Americans and Congress members straight: Congress has no business authorizing spending for public education and local transportation projects, among other things, and encroaches on states’ rights when it does so. The 10th Amendment, by his lights, prohibits a great deal of what the federal government spends money on.

Small government is a staple of conservative dogma, but Garrett’s rigid reading ignores history, precedent and, perhaps most important, the spirit of the Constitution.

Garrett (R-5th Dist.) says the states would have more money to do things themselves if they weren’t sending so much to Washington, D.C., in the first place. That means eliminating the federal gas tax "so New Jersey could keep that money right here." Same goes for education: Keep our tax dollars here, and "New Jersey would be in better fiscal health than it is," he said. States not as wealthy as ours? Well, too bad.

Constitutional experts get understandably apoplectic. "These are Know-Nothings, they just make noise," said Frank Askin, a professor at the Rutgers School of Law in Newark. Two hundred years of constitutional history support a government that promotes the general welfare of the country, he said.

But Garrett is part of an empowered Republican majority in Congress that shares his narrow view. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) got to the heart of what makes this vision deeply troubling — acting as one nation, not individual states, is what makes the U.S. an economic powerhouse and a leader of nations.

"Washington and Jefferson envisioned one country," Pallone said. "If everyone’s looking out for their own state, we become weaker, there’s less unity. We’re not a collection of states, we’re one country. We see ourselves as Americans and move forward as Americans." He’s right. Garrett’s notion of the constitution undermines the very essence of what it means to be American.